Open Sources, July 20, 2012

WELCOME BACK, SOUTH KOREA: Readers in South Korea and my visitors’ log tell me the site is now accessible from the ROK. With the assistance of my ISP and faithful reader, we traced the problem down to a bad node at Korea Telecom. KT actually sent a report back to my reader in English, and here’s where it gets interesting:

After reviewing your request , we found that your requested IP address was blocked by our team member according to the Korean Government’s request. The reason why it is blocked is that the IP address you want to visit was compromised and abused by the hacker group. Unluckily, your requested web url – freekorea.us – is bind with the same IP address by Internet Company ….

For solving this problem, we contacted the Korean Government and got a reconfirmation of release the IP block. They were recheck the abused web server and made this decision after your request. So, we released the IP block at 00:00 am in July 19. And you can access the web site ( freekorea.us ) from now on.

I don’t know if that means I was hacked, or whether some other target associated with my ISP was. I’ve been calling for the violent overthrow of the North Korean government here since 2004, and it’s high time for it to show me the goddamn common courtesy of at least hacking my site (don’t worry, I keep lots of backups stashed away).

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A WONDERFUL VIDEO FROM LiNK:

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THE COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA has released another major report, this time on North Korea’s security forces. It should make good background material for coup watching. The title is “Coercion, Control, Surveillance, and Punishment: An Examination of the North Korean Police State,” and the author is none other than Ken Gause, the go-to expert on the topic of North Korean kremlinology.

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I WISH I COULD BELIEVE THIS:

North Korea on Thursday accused South Korea of inciting a defector to damage statues and memorials there. At a press conference broadcast on state TV, a man identified as Jon Yong-chol “confessed” to plotting to damage statues at the orders of the National Intelligence Service and a group of North Korean defectors in the South.

Jon said he received liquid explosives from NIS agents and was taught how to use a remote control to blow up the statues. The attack was planned for either Feb. 16, Kim Jong-il’s birthday, or Apr. 15, Kim Il-sung’s birthday, but since the explosives were not ready it had to be postponed until July 27, North Korea’s Victory Day in the Korean War. [Chosun Ilbo]